Konstantinos Chatzis

Since the defence of my doctoral thesis (February 1993), I have carried out, as a historian (primarily) and sociologist, numerous research projects focusing on the history of the modern engineer (19th–21st centuries), which can be grouped into three main ‘chapters’.

The first, a direct continuation of my doctoral work, comprises studies that focus on engineering practices through the long-term evolution of major socio-technical systems, notably urban networks and large-scale rationalised industry.

Another strand of my research seeks to give the engineer a concrete face through the study of the history of the profession, engineering education and the engineering sciences (applied mechanics in particular).
Finally, by focusing on the sphere situated downstream of engineering practices, I have also explored the engineer’s place in the society of their time and the effects of their actions on a series of large-scale historical movements, such as the construction of a ‘rational’ state or the functioning of major cities. For several years now, this arc—which spans the emergence of the figure of the modern engineer, through their practices, to their role as a historical agent—has increasingly been viewed in a comparative and transnational light (the study of the circulation of objects and people), with a desire, shared by several colleagues, to move beyond the ‘nation-centred’ perspective that has dominated the historical community since the 19th century in favour of interpretations that emphasise exchanges and connections between geographical areas (France, Greece and the United States, in this instance).

This research has led to participation in conferences around the world (France, Greece, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, the United States, Brazil, Mexico) and to numerous publications in several languages.